Jamaica was voted the Caribbean’s Leading Destination at the 2012 World Travel Awards Ceremony for the Caribbean and the Americas at Beaches Turks & Caicos Resort Villages & Spa on September 14th.

Jamaica took home several other awards including “Caribbean’s Leading Airport” (Sangster International Airport), “Caribbean’s Leading Cruise Destination,”  “Caribbean’s Leading Villa Resort” (Round Hill Hotel), “Caribbean’s Leading Meeting and Conference Center” (Montego Bay Convention Center), and “Caribbean’s Leading Meeting and Conference Hotel” (Half Moon).

Other winners include St. Lucia (“Caribbean’s Leading Honeymoon Destination”), Tobago (“Caribbean’s Leading Hotel – Coco Reef Resort”), Necker Island (“Caribbean’s Leading Private Island”), and St. Vincent (“Caribbean’s Leading New Hotel” – Buccament Bay Spa & Resort).

Rio de Janeiro won the award for “South America’s Leading Destination,” while Cancun was voted “Mexico & Central America’s Leading Destination.”

The “North America’s Leading Destination” award went to Las Vegas while New York City was voted “North America’s Leading City Break Destination,” and American Airlines “North America’s Leading Airline.”

South Africa was the big winner at the WTA Africa ceremony with awards including “Africa’s Leading Luxury Hotel,” (Saxon Boutique Hotel, Villa & Spa), “Africa’s Leading Luxury Train” (The Blue Train), and “Africa’s Leading Safari Lodge” (Shamwari Game Resort). South Africa Airways and Abercrombe & Kent were among the organizations voted finest in their fields. Marrakech took home the award for “Africa’s Leading Destination.”

Dubai earned honors as the “Middle East’s Leading Destination” while Abu Dhabi’s Emirates Palace copped the “Middle East’s Leading Luxury Resort.”

In addition to the Turks & Caicos ceremony, others were held in Nairobi and Singapore. Europe’s event will take place on October 6th at the Conrad Algarve in Portugal. The winners of these legs will go head-to-head in the WTA’s Grand Final, which is set to take place at The Oberoi, Gurgaon on 12th December 2012. Read more about the winners here.

The World Travel Awards (WTA) was launched in 1993 to acknowledge and recognize excellence in the global travel and tourism industry. Now celebrating its 19th anniversary, it is regarded as the very highest achievement that a travel product could hope to receive.